Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Softening food prices to cool inflation but elevated core remains a concern: HSBC reportedit
The Economic Times – Online
A softening in food prices is expected to bring down India’s headline inflation but sticky core inflation remains a worry, a report by HSBC said. Food prices, which were one of the major contributors of higher inflation, are expected to cool due to return of global supplies, higher reservoir levels and alternative for deficient crops. HSBC expects headline inflation to moderate to 5.5% in FY24 from 6.9% in FY23. “We expect headline inflation to fall from 6.9% in FY23 to 5.5% in FY24, and lower food inflation is likely to be the key driver of the disinflation process,” the report stated. On the sowing of the paddy slowing down due to sub-par rains in ...
Hit by lumpy disease, milk output falls in Punjabedit
The New Indian Express – Online
The outbreak of the lumpy skin disease in cattle has resulted in a fall in milk production in Punjab by 15-20%. Around 500 cattle have died due to the disease in the state in a month and about 27,000, mostly cows, have been infected. Jalandhar, Moga, Muktsar, Barnala, Bathinda and Faridkot districts have reported the most number of cases. The state produces 6.7 per cent of the country’s milk production and has a per capita availability of 1,181 grams of milk per day, the highest in the country. The cost of production has now shot up, resulting in dairy farmers facing a double blow. A senior official of the government-owned Milkfed said the ...
Export restrictions stabilise wheat prices in Indiaedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Wholesale prices of wheat in the domestic mandis have managed to fall from their lifetime highs and have stabilized as the central government timely brought in a slew of policy interventions on the exports of the foodgrain. In Indore in Madhya Pradesh, which is considered one of the key mandis, wheat prices touched as high as Rs 2,400-2,500 per 100 kg, against Rs 2,000-2,1000 until the conflict in Ukraine broke out. Prices of wheat usually remain on the lower side during this time of the year as freshly harvested rabi crops make their way into the physical markets — mandis. Multiple rounds of heat waves in several wheat-growing regions in India ahead of ...
Govt. Policies
Amit Shah to inaugurate National Conference of Rural Cooperative Banks todayedit
The Print – Online
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate a one-day National Conference of Rural Cooperative Banks organized by the Ministry of Cooperation and the National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB) on Friday. Union Minister of State for Cooperation BL Verma will address the valedictory session of the conference. Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation Gyanesh Kumar, NAFSCOB Chairman Konduru Ravinder Rao and NAFSCOB Managing Director Bhima Subrahmanyam shall also be present. State Cooperative Banks, 351 District Central Cooperative Banks and 96,575 PACS. The National Federation of State Cooperative Banks was established on May 19, 1964, with the broad objective to facilitate the operations of state and central cooperative banks and the development of a short-term cooperative credit ...
Stubble Burning
‘Paddy cultivation leading to rise in stubble burning, decline in water table in Uttar Pradesh’edit
Hindustan Times – Online
Not only Punjab, even Uttar Pradesh (UP) started seeing a rise in stubble burning cases and decline in water table as farmers began shifting towards rice cultivation. The shift towards paddy cultivation is posing a serious environmental challenge for the state, said RK Upadhyaya, head of department of agriculture division of UP remote sensing application centre. Upadhyaya was here to attend a brainstorming workshop on space-based solution for effective management of stubble burning and air pollution, hosted by Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). He said as the area under rice begins to increase in UP, the problem of farm fires has begun to rise. Since 2010, the state has witnessed ...